The common, received wisdom about Hollywood during The Great Depression tends to go like this: Hollywood played an important role as a place for escape, or a low-cost brief vacation, for a populace struggling to make it day-to-day. Much of Hollywood entertainment no doubt possessed escapist entertainment value, and the...

With all the commotion of Johnny Depp and Rob Marshall tackling a remake, I felt it important for non-fans to get a small glimpse into the world of Nick and Nora Charles. The 1934 comedy/mystery/drinking contest starred William Powell and Myrna Loy as the crime-solving, party-hosting pair trying to solve...

Retired detective and alcoholic Nick Charles (William Powell) is drawn out of his retirement (which is being funded by his marriage to gorgeous, witty socialite lush Norah (Myrna Loy)) by the disappearance of the very thin Clyde Wynant (Edward Ellis) who may also be mixed up in the murder of...